When my boys were young, Sweet Pea was a favorite term of endearment. They’re teenagers now, so pet names are the kiss of death. I still think it in my head though, especially this time of year.
Sweet Friends
Sweet Pea seeds and the beautiful gift bag
Last year my kindred spirit sent me several packets of sweet pea seeds from up north. I planted them in a few places, to see what worked best. A few came up in the pots out back, but they died back quickly, challenging my garden mojo, They’re supposed to grow like wild flowers. We mused that perhaps they weren’t properly adapted for our hotter climate and chalked it up to experience.
Guess what? They’re back. They’re also bigger and brighter and happily growing in the garden. Don’t you love second chances?
These soft yellow buds opened to lavender flowers
Delicate but strong
Flowers refreshed
This isn’t the first time I’ve planted seeds, that do so-so in the first year, then come on strong a year later. Look at them grow!
Artful Friends
Artist Nicole Meredith created The Flower Map as a way of fundraising for her own healing treatments. I met Nicole through a mutual friend and have followed her journey for several years. As her health improved, she launched The Flower Map. I purchased a handful of cards from her Etsy shop, to send and to give as gifts.
To my delight, Nicole sent me one of her original water colors as a gift. My cup overflows! I framed the sweet pea watercolor, both for its beauty and for the reminder that Nicole, too, is improving and getting her second chance at a healthy life. Her Etsy shop is currently ‘taking a break.’ Nicole, sending healing thoughts your way and thank you once again for this lovely gift.
I’m not the only one who’s in love with sweet peas. Show some blogging love and have a look:
- Silk and Threades writes beautifully about her own experiences. Check out The Tendrils of the Sweet Pea.
- Take a look at Cathy’s beautiful vase and field of wild sweet peas (be still my heart) at Words and Herbs.
- Bloom or Bust has a great idea for trailing sweet peas. She also used them in her wedding, which I think is the sweetest of all.
If you’re viewing this in ‘real time’, have a look at my Descending on D.C. widget to the right. Can you believe it? It’s counting down the hours, not days. I’m so excited.
Gardening Nirvana 
I’ve always loved sweet peas. They are my birthday month flower and I remember them from childhood.
Our very elderly neighbor, Mrs. Boddy grew them along the side of her house, ending at the mailbox. She showed me how to cut them so that I could bring bouquets of sweet peas to my mother.
What a “sweet” memory your blog brought to me. Thank you, Alys.
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Mary Elizabeth, what a lovely memory. Thank you for sharing that. xox
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I knew immediately after seeing the packaging who your kindred spirit was. 🙂 I love sweet peas and remember using that term of endearment on occasion. I’d love to try my hand at growing them as they are just lovely. The painting is so soft looking. So beautiful.
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xoxoxox, I’m overjoyed to hear that the Sweat Peas, once thought to have expired, are now popping up in your garden. That’s so peculiar but awesome too! We can only grow them as annuals but it seems your mild San Jose weather has them acting like perennials. That’s fun that they’re yellow before they bloom. I hope you’ll get the dark pinks mixed with light pinks too. Thank you for featuring your little gift bag hon. When it popped up, I looked at the date of your post, thinking I must’ve clicked on a past post. I still like that paper, LOL I bought some fantastic material today. I can’t wait to show you. Gads, that feels good to say. All my heart waits for your arrival. xoxoxoxo Love k
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43 minutes to go! And soon you ‘sweet peas’ will be gathered together in a beautiful bloggers’ bouquet. That’s wonderful that your sweet peas have grown in strength and beauty. They are a flower that is dearly loved by many. And it is lovely that you have featured mine for others to see. Do you know The Tendrils of the Sweet Pea is one of the posts that is most often looked at on my blog? My other popular post relates to custard. 😀
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Oh, I just love that you we’re viewing in real time with the clock ticking down by the minute. What fun.
We had a blast, as you’ve no doubt read. It was an extraordinary experience.
Isn’t that interesting that your sweet pea post was so popular? My top posts are blogging puns and a how to on planting in a City Slicker. Apparently tagging really works. When my diet is over, I’ll go find your custard post. 😉
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And you came back with a beautiful new avatar photo, too.
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Thank you for noticing!
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How “sweet” of you to include a link… I was only looking at my photos of this yesterday! Your sweet peas look so fresh and healthy. I do hope they thrive and produce lots of seed for next year too. Have a wonderful weekend with your blogging friends, Alys! And Happy Easter!
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Thank you, Cathy. It was fun revisiting your sweet peas and then sharing the link here. I hope you had a few new visitors.
Easter was loads of fun, spent in Radford, VA. I’ve laughed all week long. It’s good for the soul.
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Well, aren’t your Sweet Peas symbolic for a good friendship…it grows better every year! And the water color is so beautifully framed.
Sweet Peas and BumbleBee are favorite pet names here too…and now the Walker Boys are in their twenties and left home, they enjoy it very much to be called Sweet Pea again ;0)
Have a lovley time with all your Sweet Peas of friends in Washington!
xo Johanna
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Johanna, that is a wonderful way to look at it. I like the symbolism of flowers.
It’s so good to hear that your young men now enjoy the endearments of their youth. Delightful!
Our trip to D.C and Virginia were everything that I could imagine…and more. Really quite extraordinary.
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Your sweet peas are so awesome! It is funny how some plants surprise us and make a second appearance. I had that happen last year.
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What wonderful presents all round! I hope your friend who has been ill will be okay x
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Thank you, Helen. I hope so too.
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So nice to meet you today, Alys! I, too love the sweet peas and have some pink ones in my garden. Since they seed prolifically, I do a lot of bouquets with them in summer. Your photos are beautiful.
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Thank you, Lisa. It’s fun to be reading this now after having seen your garden last week and spending all that time together. You are a fabulous tour guide, so full of knowledge and interesting details.
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For years I tried to grow poppies which as you probably know don’t transplant well. Many years later, when I didn’t get to mowing as quickly as I normally do, I noticed the hairy leaf fronds around the base of my apple tree where they had all inexplicably migrated and now bloom in profusion each spring (well, more like June here in the chilly North!). This blog reminded me that my husband brought me some sweet pea seeds from his wild flowers down at the marina where he is Harbormaster. I started them in growing medium today. And yeah, I called my kids Sweet Pea for a long time. Now our friend has an ornery parrot named Sweet Pea, lol, so we don’t use the term as an endearment. Thanks for conjuring all the sweet memories not to mention reminding me to plant those seeds!
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Hi Cyndi,
I’m just back from our blogging adventure and catching up on comments and posts. Its so nice to have this newsy one from you.
Don’t you love how seeds move around the garden till they find a place to call home? They tend to thrive there too, once they arrive at the perfect destination. I’ve found that to be true as well with house plants. Once they’re facing the perfect window, off they go.
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